


It's not the size that counts (FFXIVWrite2020 Day 27 - Writer's Pick [Beam (Continuation)])

by Ivelia



Series: FFXIV Write 2020 [27]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Gen, Tumblr: FFXIVwrite2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:48:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26700946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ivelia/pseuds/Ivelia
Summary: Part of my attempt for #FFXIVWrite2020 - September 27 (Day 27 - Writer's Pick [Beam (Continuation)])One Tall and 2 Small, bonding over the wonders of technology.Some spoilers for the end of the Dwarf beast tribe quests (5.3?), and some dubious double-entendre, please read at your own discretion!
Series: FFXIV Write 2020 [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1906951
Kudos: 2





	It's not the size that counts (FFXIVWrite2020 Day 27 - Writer's Pick [Beam (Continuation)])

Ozogg was internally gloating. It had been worth it, to go fry herself under the harsh sun of Ahm Areng, and she couldn’t wait to rub her newest success resulting from her trip -a deal that would see them buy part of the raw ore they needed for the Rolling Tankard production from the Twine mines at a very advantageous price- in Ronitt’s face. She was oblivious to the fact that she did not exactly go there out of choice, but just because, having finally shed her helmet, she was the only dwarf of Watt’s Anvil able to endure the desert’s extremely high temperature without her brain cooking in her headgear. When she arrived at their headquarters, she was told that her rival was in his “secret hideout”, so she ran off to find him. As she approached the door of the remote atelier where the young dwarf usually conducted his most confidential, dangerous and above all, _likely to fail in an explosion of high temperature sparks_ experiments, she stopped as she heard bits of conversation through the door:

\- “Ouch! Damn, it hurts.” A pained, female voice. The Warrior of Light. She sometimes passed by the Anvil, and every time she did, she was enlisted to lend a hand, so her being here was not much of a surprise. However, the dwarven maiden was pretty intrigued by the follow up sentence, as she could hear the Elf bemoan: “It’s too much, there’s no way it would fit.”

\- “I’m sure it should fit…” Ronitt’s voice intervened, a bit sorry, “I mean, it usually fits everywhere else.”

\- “Ladies are a delicate thing” The voice sounded a bit annoyed, and still in pain as she reproached “you can’t just jam things in there haphazardly and hope it works!” Ozzog’s eyes grew increasingly wide as the young dwarf answered, sounding a bit vexed:

\- “Why not? If you’re not satisfied by my skill, you can do it on your own! There are enough tools lying around.”

\- (Don’t tell me they’re-) At that point, the dwarven maiden’s blushing face had become as red as her clothes, yet the embarrassing conversation continued unabated, as the crafting warrior taunted mercilessly, voice dripping with disdain:

\- “Tsk. Acting like you know what you’re doing, but you’re just an amateur-” She couldn’t take it any more and burst into the room, eyes closed:

\- “Wawawawawawa- what are you talking about?” She turned blindly to the direction she heard the older lady talk from “You can’t have indecent designs on him!”

\- “Wawawawawawa- what indecent!” Ronitt shielded his eyes from the barefaced girl “You’re the indecent one!” He was as red as she was; it had been quite a while, but he was still not used to seeing her visage.

\- “What the hell are you guys on.” the Elf deadpanned, looking at the two overly excited popotoes. “And what does it have to do with the energy requirements for using canons on my Queen.” Ozzog slowly opened her eyes. Both engineers in the room were fully clothed, although covered in soot and grime, and on the table in front of them was lying a man shaped robot, whose immobile frame was still coursing with small electric arks.

-”Oh. Oh! Ooooooh!” Forgetting all about the immoral scene she thought she’d be witnessing, she marvelled at the machine “What is this thing of beauty exactly?”. Her pitter-pattering steps resounded through the room as she took in the android from all angles. _Two peas in a pod._ The Elf artisan, still nursing her hand numb from getting shocked earlier, sighed:

-“She’s some sort of a combat android I’ve been using. Ronitt suggested we add a modified version of the Tankard’s canons to her, but…” She looked resentfully at her diminutive peer. Giving dreams to people only to crush them later, _so cruel_. “The beam canons don’t fit the current power envelope”. They had been working at this for quite a while now, and tried various alternatives, but they were currently stumped. The room lapsed in silence for a while, until the Gogg girl, seeing their dismay, teased them:

\- “Oh, just _this_ is enough to stop you?” She produced a vial from her pockets “If it’s _power_ you want, I’d be willing to lend you my secret, thrice enhanced formula of Gogg fuel!” she shook the small vial under their noses, almost provoking a heart attack in her fellow Dwarf: 

\- “Aaaaaa- Don’t shake this around…! Are you mad?!” Forgetting her naked face, he almost pounced on her to prevent her from agitating the dangerous liquid. Nonplussed by their antics, the Crafter of Light grumbled:

\- “Why yes, running around the battlefield carrying vats of highly volatile fuel seems like a sound idea.” She would have hit her head if she had her helmet on, but bullying the smaller ones was not good. 

\- “Oh. Oops.” She finally realised the issue with that solution. “One stray spark… and the destruction would be enormous”. 

\- “That would be a pretty sight to see…” Ronitt sounded almost enthused by this plan, actually. “We should try this on our tanks… For science of course.” Enhanced explosives would be a wonderful tool to clear persistent Sin Eaters, or levelling pesky mountains that often got in the way. Soon came the horrified answer

\- “Try whatever you want, but I will _NOT_ be your test subject…” She made a mental note to refuse the next time she was asked to pilot their tank trials “I don’t want to die.”

\- “Maybe we could lower the firepower?” offered Ozogg. Her idea was denied as well.

\- “If we lower it to usable levels on the current energy available, it would be nothing but a glorified flash light…” The mechanic-slash-machinist sighed dispiritedly “My dream of canons…”

\- “Then… Why not just use it for something else? Like one-shot, last resort canon? This way it ”

\- “This…” Her eyes lit up. “Actually I have something that fit perfectly with this idea”. 

The three engineers spent a long time working on this project, until they were finally ready to test the result of their hard work.

As the input the command, the oversized turret levitated from its stand, and she could not hide her exulting smile as she shouted, pointing aggressively to the innocent practice dummy a few dozens of malms away:

\- “Satellite beam, FIRE!” On her order, the turret vomited a deluge of light, blinding the three of them and probably everyone in range, leaving only, after a few seconds of continuous assault, a smoking trench where the target used to be. Complete annihilation. A resounding success... Or not. They didn’t even have the time to celebrate, as the Satellite dropped to the floor, fuming and crackling: in their enthusiasm, they had neglected to notice that _they didn’t actually fix the issue_. The apparatus had more canons, but the power efficiency... The three lamented in chorus:

\- “It still won’t fit!”


End file.
